


the inside of a snow globe

by colazitron



Series: 2020 December Prompts [12]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28053810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colazitron/pseuds/colazitron
Summary: Ryan's wondering if Shane misses snow on Christmas. He has a solution for that.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Series: 2020 December Prompts [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036338
Comments: 14
Kudos: 51





	the inside of a snow globe

**Author's Note:**

> for anon who wanted more in this verse and for Ryan to make snow for Shane

“Nothing like a white Christmas,” Shane says sarcastically as they step outside the office into blinding sunshine. Ryan laughs, looking up to meet Shane’s gaze and his grin, knocking an elbow into his side.

“Traded that in for taco trucks,” he says.

Shane laughs too and nods as though deep in contemplation. “All in all a pretty good trade, I think.”

Ryan grins at him and then slips his hand into Shane’s. “Want me to take you home?”

“Want to come over for dinner?” Shane counters. Ryan almost wants to say no, just to wipe that smug, expectant look off Shane’s face, but he’s not really in the habit of biting his nose to spite his face, so.

“Sure,” he says. “Love to.”

They chat about the new show they want to start in the new year on the way to Shane’s, passing ideas back and forth until they inevitably fall off the wagon into territory that’s more jokes than anything else.

It’s always been something Ryan finds both relaxing and energising at the same time, goofing off with Shane. There’s a kind of understanding and companionship woven into the ease with which they pick up on each other’s ideas now that Ryan revels in. Contrary to popular belief, while they never quite struggled with it, it’s taken time to build up this rhythm. And basking in it now is kind of basking in the solidity of their relationship. All the care that’s gone into making it as solid as it is.

Cheeks hot, Ryan refocuses his eyes on the road.

“Do you ever miss it though? Chicago?”

“Schaumburg?” Shane corrects, teasingly. Ryan doesn’t have to look to know he’s grinning when Ryan rolls his eyes. “I mean, I guess. In that vague nostalgia way. But not really.”

“Not even the white Christmas?” Ryan pushes. He can’t imagine being across the country from his family for the holidays. And, sure, Shane’s usually going home, but something can always come up to dash those plans. Ryan doesn’t want to imagine a life where he could potentially miss out on seeing his family over Christmas - or any of the holidays.

“No,” Shane says easily. “I actually like LA weather around Christmas. It’s nice not having to wrap up in 400 wool jumpers just so I don’t lose any fingers.”

“Alright, whatever you say,” Ryan laughs, but there’s something somewhere between his ribs and belly that settles at the ease with which Shane says it. “Hey, we’re almost there. Want to order us some Korean barbecue?”

“Oh, yes, good idea,” Shane says, shifting a little under the seat belt so he can pull his phone from his pocket. By the time they climb out of the car in front of Shane’s building, the food is only ten minutes away, so they wait on the front stairs, comfy and cosy in the late evening air. Later, Shane leaves the window open before crawling into bed to join Ryan under the sheets.

Still, despite Shane’s assurances that he likes his life where it is, it stays in the back of Ryan’s mind. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Shane or that he thinks a white Christmas is something he needs. He knows that’s not it. Shane may not be in the habit of divulging all his personal thoughts at random, but he’s not in the habit of lying to Ryan’s face when asked about them either.

It’s just that Ryan thinks there’s something there he can maybe give Shane. Something that he would enjoy. And if he can make Shane a little extra happy, then it’s something Ryan wants to do. So he gets his old spellwork books out and gets to researching.

It takes him a week to work out the right ciphers, and some of his excitement must show on his face, because Shane lifts a suspicious eyebrow when Ryan asks him over for dinner that Saturday. But he agrees, as Ryan knew he would, and Ryan puts on his best innocent expression. It’s not surprising that it doesn’t seem to lessen Shane’s suspicion, but it does make him huff a laugh and then turn back to his work, content to let Ryan surprise him.

Ryan ducks his head and smiles to himself.

His roommates have all graciously agreed to clear out for the evening, so he gets a few hours to himself on Saturday before Shane’s set to arrive. It leaves him ample time to clean a little (he’s really starting to get to that age where mess becomes less and less something he wants to tolerate), get himself showered and dressed in some of the things he knows Shane likes, and then get to work on the garden. It’s a good thing they already have a set of sprinklers, because otherwise he would have had to beg his parents to borrow theirs, and driving all the way out to Arcadia and back would have made this whole process a lot more stressful.

As it is, all Ryan need to do is set them up in the right positions and then draw his spell circle. It’s a big circle, so it takes a while, and for a moment he’s worried the water is going to dry up before he’s done, but then he joins the last ends up, whispering under his breath all the while, and watches it light up.

He grins to himself, surveying his handiwork and checking for any, uh, miscalculations. He really doesn’t want another mistletoe situation on his hands.

But it all looks good, and then his phone rings, screen lit up with a picture he took of Shane when he wasn’t looking, all soft smile as he pet a stray cat on the street the other week, and Ryan turns to make his way to the front door. His phone stops ringing and then starts again just as he reaches the front door and he briefly considers that Shane might be calling to let him know he’s late and he’ll look like an idiot opening the front door to noone, but he’s already here, so. He ignores the phone and turns the key, smile coming easily when he finds Shane on the doorstep.

“It’s rude to ignore people’s phone calls, you know” Shane says as he hangs up and slips his phone back into his pocket.

“Won’t do it again,” Ryan says, grinning. He absolutely will.

“Sure,” Shane says, and then follows Ryan inside when he takes a step back, leaning down to kiss him hello. Shane catches him around the waist, pulls them closer and turns it into a real kiss for just a few moments before he lets Ryan go again.

“Hello to you too,” Ryan says, toes curling with the giddiness bubbling in his stomach when Shane stays close for a moment longer, brushing their noses together.

“Hi,” Shane says and knocks his knees into Ryan’s legs like he doesn’t already have his full attention. His hands leave Ryan’s waist to find his, fingers folding together in a comfortable hold. “I want to talk to you about something.”

“Sure,” Ryan says, a light frown pulling at his brows. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing like that. No need to worry,” Shane waves him off. He’s smiling when Ryan looks at him, but he looks a little nervous too.

“Hey. Anything, right?” Ryan says.

Shane nods and straightens up, running one hand through his hair and licking his lips in a bid to collect himself. The other hand’s still holding onto Ryan’s.

“So, I was thinking about Christmas,” he starts.

“In December? What a coincidence,” Ryan can’t resist teasing.

Shane shoots him a playfully admonishing look. “I was thinking… I know it hasn’t been very long that we’ve been doing… this,” he says, squeezing Ryan’s hand for emphasis. “But I guess, it somehow feels longer because of everything before that.”

Ryan nods. Every time he thinks about how it’s been barely more than three weeks he catches himself thinking that surely it must have been longer than that.

“So, I know it’s a little soon and all, but the seasons come as they will,” Shane goes on, clearly stalling. Ryan bites his tongue and bides his time. Shane takes a deep breath and huffs a short laugh before exhaling in a heavy whoosh. “What if we spent Christmas together?”

“You don’t want to go home?” Ryan asks.

“I was thinking I might just go a little later. Maybe for New Year’s,” Shane says. “If you wanted, you could come with me.”

“You want me to meet the family?” Ryan teases, trying to catch his bearings. It is probably a little soon, but the idea of Christmas with Shane? New Year’s with him too? It’s making a butterfly colony burst to life right there in his stomach.

Shane sighs at him fondly, but then shrugs, a little sheepish. “Yeah.”

“You really want to come to Arcadia for Christmas?” Ryan asks, just to be sure. He knows his family would love to have Shane, last minute or not, but he really didn’t see this coming.

Shane fidgets a little. “Well,” he says. “I know you always go back for Christmas, but I was thinking… maybe we’d do it just the two of us, if you’d like. Or not, if you don’t. And we can see them on Christmas Day anyway, of course. If you’ll have me.”

Shane’s half tripping over his words, and Ryan squeezes his hand gently.

“You really want to spend Christmas with _me_ ,” he says, something very much like awe blooming in his chest.

Shane nods.

“Can you even change your flight so late?” Ryan asks.

“I haven’t booked one yet,” Shane admits, grinning sheepishly when Ryan’s eyes go wide with surprise. He shrugs, almost self-deprecatingly. “You kissed me under that stupid mistletoe and I knew I wanted… this. Thought I’d take a chance.”

Ryan takes him in, and then takes a chance of his own. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do it, then.”

“Really?” Shane asks, grinning. “I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything. I know how important it is to see your family.”

“Yeah, we’ll definitely have to go see them too,” Ryan agrees, “but thirty is probably not a bad age to start building my own traditions, right?”

He feels his cheeks heat a little at the implications, but Shane only smiles and leans in for a kiss, sweet and thorough.

“Count me in,” he says when he pulls back.

Ryan kisses him again, just because he wants to, and because he can, and feels Shane smile into the kiss.

“Come on, I want to show you something,” Ryan says then.

“Oh, is this the thing that’s made you all squirrely?” Shane asks, shoulders loosening as he remembers why it probably is that Ryan asked him over.

Ryan grins and shrugs like Shane doesn’t already know. He’s always been a fan of showing over telling, so he pulls Shane outside into the garden, right into the middle of his spell circle. Shane looks at the glow of it curiously, and then grins at Ryan.

“Are you sure this one’s going to work?” he teases.

Ryan ignores him and says the last few words of the incantation, watching the wonder spread over Shane’s face as a shimmering dome grows up around them from the perimeter of the circle, encasing them in a few seconds.

“We’re not going to run out of air in here, right?” Shane asks. “Cause that seems significantly less fun than some kisses.”

“No, we’re not going to run out of air,” Ryan says with a roll of his eyes, and then takes his phone out of his pocket, pulling up the app for the sprinkler system.

Shane shivers suddenly, and then seems to catch on that his breath is fogging before his eyes.

“Did you turn the temperature down?” he asks.

Ryan grins at him and turns on the sprinklers. Shane flinches at the noise, but none of the water hits them, settling instead on the other side of the iridescent dome all around them before seeping through and falling to the ground slowly and frozen as tiny little snowflakes.

Shane’s eyes dart all around them like he can’t believe what he’s seeing, and Ryan feels a surge of pride swell up in his chest. This did work out _exactly_ as planned.

“Oh my god, Ryan,” Shane says softly, still staring and then holding out a hand to catch some of the snowflakes dancing around them. He laughs, surprised and delighted, and then turns to beam at Ryan. “You put us in a snow globe.”

Ryan grins. “I put us in a snow globe,” he agrees.

Shane’s hand, when he takes Ryan’s face into it to pull him closer, is cold and wet with the melting snow but his mouth is hot as he kisses him. “You’re amazing.”

“You like it?” Ryan asks anyway.

“I love it,” Shane says, kissing him again, and then adding, “I love you.”

Ryan hiccups a laugh, half surprise, half joy, and wraps his arms around Shane to hold him closer. They’re apparently doing everything on fast-forward, but so what. Ryan knew he loved Shane long before he kissed him. That hasn’t changed.

The kissing is still pretty good though, so he does it again.

“Yeah. I love you too.”

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> [Come leave me prompts](http://fille-lioncelle.tumblr.com/ask) if you'd like!


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